Hashish worth more than Dh1.5 million ($0.40843m) was seized from a vessel coming from an Asian country to the UAE's Eastern Region. This is believed to be the second largest drug haul in UAE's history, according to officials quoted by Khaleej Times.

Five people, all Pakistanis, have been arrested in connection with the case, said the paper, adding that some of the drugs had been buried in an area in the coastal city of Khor Fakkan.

Prosecution sources said the contraband seized, including the drugs found buried in a deserted areas in the town and on the beach, totaled 350kg. The authorities in Khor Fakkan, a town in the emirate of Sharjah, had received information early last month that some people were planning to smuggle a large quantity of drugs from a neighboring non-Arab Asian country by sea.

Anti-drug personnel prepared a plan to seize the drugs. Police and coastguards detained the vessel along with the main suspect, who was on board, according to the report.

It was the second largest quantity of drugs seized in the UAE, after a 1991 case, also in Khor Fakkan, in which 17 people were arrested and some three tons of hashish and one kg of heroin was found in a vessel 11 miles from Khor Fakkan coast, said the paper.

The oil-rich Gulf states are vulnerable to drug trafficking due to their bordering of Iran, a transit corridor of drugs produced in Asian countries, particularly Afghanistan. Iran is waging a campaign to cut the route which has cost it thousands of its security men who have been killed in shootouts with drug smugglers – Albawaba.com